Solo

SOLO is a solo add-on for Cepheus Engine and the 2D6 SF roleplaying game that it is based on.

If your players are out of town, or you want to experience your own sci-fi setting ‘from the inside’, SOLO is the answer. This isn’t the usual collection of random word tables - instead it presents an array of game types and campaign styles that you can play solo, in the company of a complete adventuring party. Exploring new star systems? Chasing pirates in a naval destroyer? Touting for patrons on one frontier world after another? Smuggling? Planning interstellar heists? Operating a free trader on the margins of profit – and legality?

SOLO allows you to pick up your favourite version of the game to run the kinds of sessions that are normally reserved for a traditional group of table-top players – led by a referee.

SOLO includes:

Copious examples of play

Guidelines to ease the process of character creation

Rules for inter-character drama

The Plan: A single, universal scene resolution mechanic

Solid advice on tying seemingly random events together

Fast play space combat rules

Checklists to speed play and help understanding

A unique space exploration sub-system

Star system creation rules

Record sheets

You will be surprised, enthralled and captivated by the events unfolding around your player-characters. Can you shepherd them through adversity? Will their past catch up with them?

"54 Interesting Individuals (table S4) make life hell for you." (There are other entries that refer to tables S1, S2, and S3 as well.

Table S4 is not labelled anywhere... is this meant to be the Colorful Locals table on page 38? What about S1, S2, and S3? Thanks!

Shawn MJanuary 24, 2020 4:34 pm UTC

PURCHASER

For what it is worth, these issues were fixed in the latest update. Thanks Paul!

Francisco PJune 10, 2019 8:28 am UTC

PURCHASER

Again in the last update bookmarks are missing (solo-zozer9.pdf). They were present in the previous version.
BTW what has been updated?

Paul ESeptember 06, 2019 10:11 am UTC

PUBLISHER

A few minor typos were corrected Francisco. I've added the bookmarks back in, apologies. It all comes down to remembering to tick a check-box when creating the new PDF!

Bruce GApril 24, 2019 12:19 am UTC

PURCHASER

Sorry, i’m a bit confused. If i want to play Star Traders, is this all I need, or is there another book i would need? Thanks.

Bruce GApril 24, 2019 12:36 am UTC

PURCHASER

Can I use this with the Traveller 2nd edition core or do i have to use the Cepheus Engine RPG book?

Ian SApril 29, 2019 4:02 pm UTC

PURCHASER

No you just need this book

Ian SApril 29, 2019 4:03 pm UTC

PURCHASER

It should work under 2e as well as CE

Mark SJanuary 06, 2019 3:08 am UTC

What happened to the physical hardcover book? I just reloaded $20 on a card today to buy this book as a gift.

Paul EFebruary 16, 2019 7:45 am UTC

PUBLISHER

It is still available, check the Solo page on the Zozer Games website. It is not prontedvia Drivethru, however.

Dillard RJune 10, 2018 5:02 am UTC

PURCHASER

Looking at the Space combat session. Page 96 you mention using the damage table in Mongoose Traveller; there is a damage table on page 98. Also on the Ship Damage Table you have a row for target roll of "10 more". It is impossible to roll 10 higher when the lowest target number you have is a 3+ on the Comparison Table; rolling a 12 would only result in 9 more. Is there a modifier I am missing?

Paul EOctober 28, 2018 10:15 pm UTC

PUBLISHER

The damage tables included are the ones from the Mongoose SRD I decided to include to reduce flipping between books. You are right about getting 10+, it is redundant!

Omari BMay 09, 2018 2:54 pm UTC

PURCHASER

I recently purchased the PDF and there are no bookmarks. Is there a chance those can be added soon?

(It appears that bookmarks might have been added at one point in the past? So I'm not sure why my PDF doesn't have any).

Paul EJune 09, 2018 9:28 am UTC

PUBLISHER

I do apologise, forgetting to check a single box during the publication of the new version of the file meant that the bookmarks did not show up. The file (zozer-solo-7) has been updated now. Thanks for the report!

Matthew RDecember 13, 2017 8:07 pm UTC

PURCHASER

I've really enjoyed playing this system - I have even found ways to adapt most of its structure to other games... Just got notice that its been updated. Can anyone provide some insight as to what has changed/been updated?

Paul EMarch 23, 2018 6:55 am UTC

PUBLISHER

Sorry for the delay - only a few minor typos were fixed Matthew.

Simon BApril 29, 2017 6:43 pm UTC

PURCHASER

A truly imaginative approach to solo gaming: thank you. I think that the first line of p. 5 should read that the solo experience is 'fraught' with problems.

Dan DMarch 20, 2017 8:00 pm UTC

PURCHASER

Any problems using TravellerT20 with this?

Paul EMarch 20, 2017 8:10 pm UTC

PUBLISHER

I shouldn't think so, you are left to create your characters using your preferred version of Traveller; skill rolls are left to your rules-set as is space combat. I've tested SOLO with Cepheus Engine, Mongoose Traveller and Marc Miller's Classic Traveller.

Philipp DMarch 17, 2017 7:56 am UTC

PURCHASER

Any chance of adding bookmarks to the PDF? It's a bit unwieldy without them. Also, it would be nice to have versions of the forms without the page number footer.

Paul EMarch 17, 2017 3:10 pm UTC

PUBLISHER

I'll look in to both of those, thanks for the suggestions. You should receive notification if a new edition is published.

Paul EMarch 19, 2017 9:28 pm UTC

PUBLISHER

New edition is now up - with bookmarks. In addition, jpeg versions of the record sheets are included with the download. Thanks!

Philipp DMarch 20, 2017 3:16 pm UTC

PURCHASER

Wow, that was quick! Thanks a lot! :-)

Daniel SMarch 12, 2017 1:53 pm UTC

Printing is not allowed in the preview-pdf! What about the pay-pdf?
I think it should be allowed for ones own purposes.

Paul EMarch 12, 2017 9:38 pm UTC

PUBLISHER

I can assure you that you can indeed print out the SOLO book once purchased and downloaded. I just looked at the DriveThruRPG preview of SOLO and when right-clicking on the page there is no print option, as you pointed out. However, on the Full-Size Preview, if you go to the top, a bar appears with a printer icon. That certaintly works! I hope that helps!

Is the 2d6 SF RPG mentioned here the Classic flavor, or the 1st version of the recent release, or the 2nd edition? If it's compatible with the Classic, I'll give it a shot!

Jacob RMarch 12, 2017 12:16 am UTC

PURCHASER

Cepheus. It's basically MgT 1E with skills, I think, from Mega and chargen from classic. It's pretty compatible with classic.

Paul EMarch 12, 2017 11:46 am UTC

PUBLISHER

Hi Morgan, SOLO is published under the Cepheus title, but it is designed to work perfectly with your favourite version of Traveller: GURPS, New Era, Classic, Mongoose 1st or 2nd edition ... even Traveller D20!

Morgan GMarch 12, 2017 7:33 pm UTC

PURCHASER

Thanks for the reply! Looking forward to digging in.

Dave SMarch 15, 2017 2:47 pm UTC

PURCHASER

Note that the major reason this is compatible with all versions is because it presents its own "Plan" scene resolution mechanic to more-or-less completely replace the mechanics of whatever Traveller version you might nominally be using.

Ewan SMarch 11, 2017 7:06 am UTC

Will it be available as a POD? Thanks

Paul EMarch 11, 2017 5:20 pm UTC

PUBLISHER

It certainly will, a softback will be released next weekend, through Lulu, though - not DriveThruRPG's POD system.

Robert RMarch 11, 2017 12:35 am UTC

PURCHASER

I want to buy this but this page makes me uneasy. There is nothing here but the icon of the product. Are you aware? Will there be an update to this page?

Paul EMarch 11, 2017 5:20 am UTC

PUBLISHER

Sorry about that, I took the text down to carry out a couple edits and additions. Thank you for your patience!

I've been playing a fair few solo games in the last few years - blame grad school and multiple moves for depriving me of my usual gaming fix. I've shopped around for solo systems for a long time too - Mythic, Scarlet Heroes, and more. None of them scra [...]

The beating heart of this product is the "Plan" mechanic, which replaces the mechanics of the host system you're using it with, whether Cepheus, Traveller, or pretty much anything else. The Plan mechanic is a one-roll scene resolution mechan [...]

These products were created by scanning an original printed edition. Most older books are in scanned image format because original digital layout files never existed or were no longer available from the publisher.

For PDF download editions, each page has been run through Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software to attempt to decipher the printed text. The result of this OCR process is placed invisibly behind the picture of each scanned page, to allow for text searching. However, any text in a given book set on a graphical background or in handwritten fonts would most likely not be picked up by the OCR software, and is therefore not searchable. Also, a few larger books may be resampled to fit into the system, and may not have this searchable text background.

For printed books, we have performed high-resolution scans of an original hardcopy of the book. We essentially digitally re-master the book. Unfortunately, the resulting quality of these books is not as high. It's the problem of making a copy of a copy. The text is fine for reading, but illustration work starts to run dark, pixellating and/or losing shades of grey. Moiré patterns may develop in photos. We mark clearly which print titles come from scanned image books so that you can make an informed purchase decision about the quality of what you will receive.

Original electronic format

These ebooks were created from the original electronic layout files, and therefore are fully text searchable. Also, their file size tends to be smaller than scanned image books. Most newer books are in the original electronic format. Both download and print editions of such books should be high quality.

File Information

Watermarked PDF

Watermarked PDF

These PDF files are digitally watermarked to signify that you are the owner. A small message is added to the bottom of each page of the PDF containing your name and the order number of your purchase.

Warning: If any files bearing your information are found being distributed illegally, then your account will be suspended and legal action may be taken against you.